Credit: Daniel Shaw with Jason Wong

The Nottingham-based conference opened with a Workshop programme featuring medical emergencies and Basic Life Support training from former dental nurse Lesley Sharp, James Green describing the approach taken by Great Ormond Street Hospital to planning Orthognathic Surgery and the design of their surgical wafers - utilising a light cured technique rather than acrylic and Stuart Marlow (Schottlander) giving a workshop that focused on gingival characterisation using a composite based material.

Caitlin Wroath delivered an up to date view on the use of intra-oral scanning. Her attention on this occasion was how difficult patient groups are dealt with and helped during the procedure.

Larry Browne, a well respected restorative technician, who is very experienced in the art of occlusion and harmony, gave us his history of ceramics.

Jinesh Patel, Mark Barry and Richard Buckle gifted us with an interactive hands-on experience with intra-oral scanning and processes enhancing production and manufacture.

Desmond Soloman and Ashton Sheerkhan provided a helpful lecture in the management of Sleep Apnoea.

The first of our international colleagues to present was Jutta Ruffing from Bavaria, Germany. Jutta lectured on an issue that can affect every role in all workplaces – burnout.

Matthew Hill from the GDC presented the regulator as being approachable with a remit to oversee the profession, not punish it.

Julianne Kumm described how she trained in cosmetic camouflage and the treatment provided to patients referred for her services. John Brown told conference of his enthusiasm for education. He said education is the secret to success and furthermore and was provoking and encouraging for those wishing for more in their careers.

Janine Doughty kicked Saturday off with an emotional talk on the oral health of the homeless describing how the charity Den-Tech is involved in providing valuable prosthetic work to those in greatest need.

Planmeca agent, James Smith, discussed the popular use of intra-oral scanning and processing of such information.

Diane Roachford gave a detailed lecture on tooth whitening, highlighting regulations and pitfalls. Tooth whitening is a treatment much in demand and one that can be carried out by a CDT under prescription.

Something that all dental practices and laboratories must undertake is record keeping. Who hasn't heard of GDPR? Jason Wong put together a talk on how the team can overcome obstacles and remain compliant with stipulations that must be adhered to.

From Egypt, Waleed Ibrahim gave an insight into orthognathic surgery on young patients.

Human error was a discussed at length by Professor Simon Wright who gave shocking examples of bad decision making, whether from air traffic control to the poor positioning of dental implants.

The interesting topic of laboratory cleanliness and infection growth was discussed with Rebecca Taylor from Manchester Metropolitan University. With 100 million bacteria found in 1ml of saliva should you make sure dentists are sending disinfected impressions? Do you know how to keep your pumice germ free?

Credit: Andrea Johnson with Lesley Sharpe

Finally, GP Visser from South Africa showed us how the TMJ behaves, how body asymmetry is affected by poor occlusion and the treatment techniques used to improve health and quality of life for his patients.

The AGM of the OTA saw the nomination of Bill Ip as the incoming President of the OTA with Rye Mattick coming to the end of her term. Her final duty was to present the BOS Distinguished Technician Award to Kerry Lancaster, the BOS Student Technician award to Amy Costello, the Aldridge medal for the best lecture at the 2017 conference to Stefano Negrini and the OTA award for outstanding services to the field of orthodontic technology to Mr John Windibank.

www.ota-uk.org/

This event was hosted by the Orthodontic Technicians’ Association (OTA) and supported by The Society of British Dental Nurses (SBDN), the Dental Technicians Association (DTA) & Blueprint Dentals FutureLabs event.